EDITORIAL
Cutback brings hope,
5 but not too much
It was a typical President Bush announcement: pre
spccch speculation, a national television audience, a
presentation delivered in a way that suggests drum
beats and fanfare.
This time. Bush announced a plan for "major” cut
backs in the United States nuclear arsenal. For those
accustomed to the creeping lethargy of arms control ne
gotiations, it is a daring plan. But now that the Oval Of
fice is empty and the teleprompters have been turned
off, it's time to take stock and assess what benefits
Bush’s plan will actually bring.
It calls for elimination of all short-range nuclear
weapons, be they ground or submarine launched: tak
ing the U S. strategic bombers off alert and warehous
ing their weapons: killing the plan to put the MX mis
sile on railroad cars; and withdrawing the ballistic mis
siles scheduled for destruction by START off alert stat
us.
It is the biggest reduction in nuclear weapons ever
proposed by an American president. The plan has the
capability of being the symbolic first step toward real
peace between the superpowers.
But the cuts Rush proposed are not as sweeping as
he would have the American public believe The Asso
ciated Press reports that fewer than 3,000 nuclear
weapons — out of the total U S. arsenal of about 22.000
— are affected, and two-thirds of those were already
slated for removal because of obsolescence.
Any change in the U.S.—Soviet nuclear policy,
however minute, is welcome. The nature of arms con
trol necessitates slow movement, as mutual distrust
precludes slash-it-all affairs. So Bush, admittedly with
pressure from Congress and foreign allies, did do some
thing right.
Removal of short-range nukes from Europe hits al
ready begun, and Bush took it one step further by pro
posing elimination of all tactical nuclear weapons from
the European theater. These weapons were designed to
deter the Soviets from attacking Western Europe —
something that is now almost inconceivable. So battle
field nukes in Europe have become an unnecessary,
costly program. Final analysis: a money-saving move,
nothing more.
Same thing with taking the doomed missiles and
bombers off alert. It makes no sense to keep missiles
slated for destruction on alert, and satellites and other
early-warning systems eliminate the need for rapid re
sponse strategic bombers. The weapons still remain,
just the cost of keeping them on alert is gone.
The rail-based MX missile system was killed by the
Senate on Thursday. Rather than push for an unloved
pet project, Bush scrapped it. cloaking it in the excite
ment of the moment. Analysis: politically motivated.
The “bold and exciting” plan dissolves into a sym
bolic gesture, trimming the unnecessary fat off the nu
clear arsenal while keeping the most destructive weap
ons systems.
The most telling of Bush's statements was where
he forestalled attempts to take money from defense
budget cuts and plug it into domestic programs. The
proposal. Bush said, might actually cost taxpayers
money, though he didn’t elaborate. "The peace divi
dend I stark is not measured in dollars, but in greater
security," Bush said.
It's nice to know that some things remain the same.
Even in the face of historic change, Bush continues to
ignore the domestic issues while casting himself in the
role of World Peacemaker. While Bush’s proposal sig
nals a possible, significant change in the nuclear arms
race, it's time he started looking inward to America's
own problems of poverty, national debt, trade imbal
ance and crime.
C’mon George, close the curtain on the world stage
and start making "bold and exciting" statements about
America.
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COMMENTARY
The best of Springfield E-mail
THE FINE
PRINT
8V PAT MALACH
You'vo seen it on T V.
und you've read about it
in the papers. Now. for
vour entertainment enjoyment
- or dedust — the Orvgon Dui
1} Etncnld proudly presents
the host of Springfield E-mail.
Because the E-mail is consid
ered written records, it is pub
lic property He# is tor-Guard
columnist. Don Bishoff request
ed all of the E-mail from Aug. 3
through Sept -t for one of sev
eral columns he has written
about the entire Human Rights
Commission affair Em ora Id re
porter Gerrit Koopping sup
plied me with copies of the
electronic-mail transmissions
so that 1 could pass them on to
you.
The transmissions you see
here are verbatim excerpts from
the correspondence between
the council members. Grammar
and punctuation errors have
not been corrected It Is a little
voyeuristic to read other peo
ple's E-mail, but it's also
darned entertaining.
The whole sordid affair Ixi
gan hack in earl\ August when
Springfield City Council mem
bers Larry Schanz und Kulf
Walters became distressed over
the appointment of Ron
Sinature to the Human Rights
Commission Walters and
Schanz were worried that
Sinacore's lilxiral views would
compromise their hopes of
making Springfield a bastion of
Christian conservatism. They
later conscripted council mem
ber Bruce Berg to join them in
their "coup."
In the beginning
Larry Schanz — Aug. 6.
"Perhaps I'm like the re
formed drunk who wants to re
form everybody else, but i am
really discouraged that the
Christian community is not
more involved in the local gov
ernmental processes."
Rnlf Walters — Aug. f>.
"1 figured everyone, includ
ing George (Wojcik) would real
ize that this guy would be n
very strong vocal proponent of
the whole agenda, gay rights in
cluded, seeing that he's the as
sistant director of Affirmative
action at the U of O. I bis is a
dark day indeed, because they
have scored a major victory.
"It's going to take more In
volvement than singing against
the 'spirits of darkness' if Chris
tians urn going to claim or
maintain Springfield as their
own town.
"STINK STINK, I'm really
angry!"
Our story begins with two
men who view themselves us
being beacons of light in a
world of darkness. You see, by
virtue of their religious beliefs,
Kulf and Larry have boon ele
vated to u morally superior po
sition than the rest of us lowly
sinners. Half and Larry's superb
ority allows thorn to judge oth
ers. Thoroforo they know that
homosexuals should not he
protected by law — as the rest
of us are — from discrimination
by employers, landlords etc.
They also must know some
thing 1 don’t about the Univer
sity because they seem to be
lieve that people who work
here are intrinsically evil.
Enter Bruce Berg.
Bruce Berg — Aug. 7
"Based on the guys answer to
religious tolerance, I thought he
would bo u decent candidate
(sicouro), but it wasn’t until
Half brought up his occupation
at the U of o, (for the final 2)
what a devastation he might
have on the HRC.
"We're all too used to being
entertained and not and not bn
ing part of what it means to be
a light in the world.
"... so the war continues.”
Seed is planted
The plan begins to germi
nate in the mind of Walters.
Knlf Wallers — Aug. 8.
”1 would like to propose a
rudical idea, but one which 1
think is legally OK. What if
when it comes time to ratify
our selections for the HRC we
decide not to vote for Sinocor.
When the vote is taken, we vote
no. Then when the shock has
dissipated, 1 make the motion
to nominate Melody Kelsay
We take another vote, and with
George's changed vote we ap
Turn to E-MAIL. Page 4
7
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